Comedy rock

Comedy rock is rock music mixed with comedy, often satire and parody.

History

Early American examples include Stan Freberg, who lampooned artists such as Elvis Presley, Harry Belafonte and The Platters, and Sheb Wooley. Freberg's "Purple People Eater" reached No. 1 on the Billboard pop chart in 1958 and stayed there 6 weeks.

In Britain during the 1950s and early 1960s comedians such as Charlie Drake and The Goons frequently appeared in the top ten with humorous rock 'n' roll records—the latter, along with Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear, were to influence the word-play of John Lennon's lyrics. Later British groups specialised in comedy: these included The Scaffold, The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and Alberto y Lost Trios Paranoias. Later in Britain, in the 2000s, Mitch Benn released several studio albums that satirised current affairs using various musical genres, but mainly rock. His 2012 Breaking Strings album was critically acclaimed for its rock sensibility.

Some comedy rock artists, such as Frank Zappa, and more recently Tenacious D, 15 Minutes of Fame and Flight of the Conchords create songs with amusing, witty, and/or over-the-top lyrics. Other acts such as Dread Zeppelin and Beatallica rely on unusual or intentionally contrasting genre-mixing for comic effect, while bands like GWAR and Rosemary's Billygoat utilize outrageous costumes and over-the-top stage shows.